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Sprinkler Valve Brands

Do all Sprinkler valves need to be of same brand in a system? I have a system with 5 inline valves four of which are of the same brand and one which is an Orbit. The Orbit valve which is the newer of the 5 has been the trouble maker even after I replaced it with a new diaphram and solenoid. Even after replacing it still does not function correctly. It starts up for a few seconds then stops watering. I have checked the voltage coming from the panel and that is not the problem. Is there any suggestions what might be causing this. The valve was replaced at one point by somelse, but the inlet and outlet are both 1" piping could this be a problem? I noticed on the other valves which are spread across lawn have 1" inlet piping and then 3/4" out piping could this be the problem of the Orbit valve? Need help if anyone has the answer.

The piping's not the problem.
Having different valves probably isn't a problem.
I have a couple questions.
Did the valve ever work? If not maybe it was installed backwards.
You mentioned the other 4 valves are for the lawn.
I was wondering if this valve is connected to a dripline?
Have you tried connecting a different hot wire?
Could be something's clogging a port. Possibly the new diaphragm or debris.

Are you sure there's not a broken pipe or riser?

This reminds me of a valve I had to repair last year. The home owner told me the valve would shut off after 5 minutes even though there's still time on the clock. So I go over there, run the controller and the valve shut off after exactly 5 minutes but the controller was still functioning. I was scratching my head. I changed the entire post, plunger and solenoid. It seemed to be working just fine. The guy called back a month later and the valve was shutting off after 5 minutes once again. I've been around a long time and I've never seen anything like this. The guy insisted I replace the controller. It was old and I didn't mind making a sale. So I did. Everything seemed to be working fine. Sure enough I had to go back. The valve was shutting off after 5 minutes. I thought I was on candid camera. This time I changed the entire valve adapter. That cured the problem. Something must have been clogging the port. Why it happened at 5 minutes I'll never know. The moral to the story. You might want to change that valve.

RE: Sprinkler Valve Brands

Do all Sprinkler valves need to be of same brand in a system? I have a system with 5 inline valves four of which are of the same brand and one which is an Orbit. The Orbit valve which is the newer of the 5 has been the trouble maker even after I replaced it with a new diaphram and solenoid. Even after replacing it still does not function correctly. It starts up for a few seconds then stops watering. I have checked the voltage coming from the panel and that is not the problem. Is there any suggestions what might be causing this. The valve was replaced at one point by somelse, but the inlet and outlet are both 1" piping could this be a problem? I noticed on the other valves which are spread across lawn have 1" inlet piping and then 3/4" out piping could this be the problem of the Orbit valve? Need help if anyone has the answer.

Today 23 Mar 2010--I tried to fix the Valve today and I was going to just replace it with another valve that is not an Orbit brand but i did notice something. All the other valves in the system are smaller valves with a 1" inlet reduced down to a 3/4" and the outlet of the valves are 3/4", basically the valves are 3/4" inlet and outlets and are smaller than the valve 3. The valve which is on zone 3 was replaced with a valve that is 1" inlet and 1" outlet. Question would this be a problem with water pressure as to why the valve is not working. Sometimes the valve comes on real quick then just turns off. Like it lost pressure but I have checked the valve and wiring and made sure it had the proper voltage from Panel and all other zones work fine except this one (zone 3)